


Kissing Practice

by pinkhairedhoe



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben is 16, Confessing Feelings, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Long-Term Crush, One-Shot, Rey is 16, Teacher Hux, resolved tension, romeo and juliet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:07:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23238955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkhairedhoe/pseuds/pinkhairedhoe
Summary: Rey and Ben's drama teacher, Mr. Armitage, thinks the balcony scene could use some work.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 3
Kudos: 53





	Kissing Practice

**Author's Note:**

> clearing out my drafts and found this cute, fluffy one shot
> 
> twitter: @pinkhairedh0e

Mr. Armitage yelled “Cut!” from the back of the theater.

“Stop! Hold on,” he said, jogging to the edge of the stage. “Listen, your lines are all technically perfect, you clearly have them memorized, but I feel like I’m watching robots, not young lovers!”

Rey made a start to complain that it wasn’t her fault that Ben Solo had about as much emotion in him as a piece of sheet metal, but Mr. Armitage continues.

“I don’t want excuses, I just want better chemistry here. I would say fake it til you make it, but this needs to be believable. You’re risking everything for each other,  _ everything _ ,” he repeated. 

“How do we make it believable, then?” Ben asked, crossing his arms.

“You need to practice alone. Do the lines, do the kiss, get it in your systems. It’s just  _ stiff _ is all.”

“And where are we supposed to practice?” Rey interjected.

“While we work on blocking and lines for Scene 1, you two will be in a practice room in the music building. For the  _ whole  _ rehearsal. I don’t wanna see the balcony scene until it’s  _ Notebook  _ level.”

“Fine,” she said. “Next week.”

Rey was beginning to regret her decision to audition. “It'd be fun!” her friend Rose insisted. “You like Shakespeare!”

“I  _ liked _ Shakespeare,” she grumbled aloud. Of course, Benjamin Solo was cast as Romeo when this was his first production ever. Admittedly, every other boy in the cast was a sophomore or freshman, and shorter than Rey, so Mr. Armitage was left with few options.

Rey and Ben had been in the same classes since kindergarten, but saying they were friends was inaccurate to say the least. They didn’t speak to each other unless forced to, and there was something about Ben that always felt odd. Especially lately.

Ever since being cast together, she couldn't look him in the eye outside of rehearsal without feeling her stomach turn in an unusual way.

She couldn't be that upset, he was a surprisingly good actor. Rey had questioned why he wasn't on the football team instead, given his height and broadness, but he hated the athletic kids with a passion. He made that abundantly clear.

He wasn’t  _ ugly _ . She couldn't lie to herself that much. Maybe not what she would have pictured as her leading man, but he was tall and imposing and his hair did look very soft. His lips were nice too, and it brought to mind the inevitable kiss in their scene. They’d successfully skirted around the topic in all prior rehearsals, much to Armitage’s chagrin. 

And now she was kissing him in a tiny practice room, alone.

Ben got to the theater a little late, and Mr. Armitage tossed him the keys. “Be back before 6, and if you really think you’re done, it better be spectacular.”

“Yes, Mr. Armitage,” Rey said, emotionless.

“Start from the beginning?” Ben suggested as they walked the short distance. 

“Yeah, that feels like the best choice.”

He unlocked the door and flicked on the light switch to reveal a plain, white walled room. It felt tiny with only two of them standing in it. 

“It won’t be that bad,” he assured her. “Basically like the fake kiss in the party scene, just . . . real.”

The angle of their blocking in that scene allowed for a stage kiss, but the balcony scene was far more open.

“Okay.”

They ran through the beginning with no problems.

“What shall I swear by?” he said, eyes intensely fixed upon Rey’s.

“Do not swear at all, or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self, which is the god of my idolatry, and I’ll believe thee,” Rey finished. 

They stared at each other for long seconds before breaking out of frustration. “God, there isn’t even a kiss in this scene!” Ben cursed.

“This was where Armitage had a kiss! It’s his show. The movie version we watched had a kiss here.”

“I don't care about the movie version, I don’t get why there’s a kiss in this scene.”

“Why, too scared to kiss me?” she joked, trying to lighten the tense mood.

The tall boy looked down quickly. “It’s just not necessary. The tension is the whole point, right?”

Rey furrowed her brow. “I thought you hated  _ Romeo and Juliet _ ?”

“Trust me, I do. Even more so now.”

“I like this play,” she said quietly. “There’s something kind of beautiful about it.”

“It’s teenagers being dumb,” Ben laughed. 

“Well, maybe. Doesn’t mean I can’t like it.”

“S’pose we don’t have a choice,” he mumbled. “Armitage said himself he didn’t wanna see this scene until it was one big firework of romance, so I guess we gotta do that.”

“I’ll start from the line about the moon?”

Ben nodded.

Rey took a second to get back into the headspace of Juliet and began. “O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circle orb, lest thy love prove likewise variable,” she said, reaching for Ben’s hand as he (hypothetically, once the set was complete) climbed up the ivy to her balcony.

“What shall I swear by?” 

“Do not swear at all, or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,” she took his face in her other hand, which was not scripted at all, “which is the god of my idolatry, and I’ll believe thee.”

His lips parted gently and he leaned forward. It was soft and sweet, nothing intense or passionate, but it made something in the tips of Rey’s fingers tingle. His cheek was warm against her hand.

It was only when he pulled back that she realized how heavily she was breathing. “Uh, um, that was good,” she stammered. “W-wanna maybe try it again?”

“Sure.”

“Blah, blah, swear by thy gracious self, which is the god of my idolatry, blah blah blah and I’ll believe thee.”

He kissed her again, and it didn’t feel the same this time. A large, firm hand found its way to her waist and she sighed quietly when it ended. 

“Sorry,” he said quickly. “That, that wasn’t Romeo.”

“No,” she whispered. 

“Was the kissing back part Juliet or Rey?”

“Rey.”

“Oh thank  _ God. _ ”

Another kiss, harder and definitely not school production appropriate.

“What was I saying about you being scared to kiss me?”

He groaned. “Rey, I—I’ve had a crush on you since seventh grade. I was  _ terrified  _ to kiss you, God, I assumed you hated me.”

“We didn't always get along, but I never hated you. Especially not right now.”

“I am so glad I didn’t choose football. I hate football. It sounds so stupid but I got so nervous when I saw you on the cast list too,” he rambled.

She cocked her head. “Ben. Shh. For three seconds, please.”

He shut up.

“I like you, Ben Solo. I don’t know how I didn’t realize it before, I'm just incredibly oblivious, I guess,” she said.

“Well, we do have to keep practicing this,” he said, sighing. “Chemistry and all that.”

“Sure, that’s why.”

He kissed her again. “As far as Armitage is concerned, we’re gonna need to rehearse alone for weeks.”


End file.
